www.bbc.com/news/live/c621z18wznet
You are searching for your mother or child after an earthquake. What do you do? You are trying to help this person, what do you do? In both instance the only way to answer these questions is real world examples of action. This is why it’s imperative that a neutral presence is on the scene in perilous times. The problem Venezuelan people are facing now is “devastation beyond belief”. Watch 5 clips of a few seconds and you can understand that dynamic personally. What do you do with that information? Piece together the facts empathetically, and try to help by being a witness. Pray if you are able.
Study. Find facts and vet them. Find more facts and vet them. Study the patterns of devastation and internalize them. Ask who are trapped and where and then workout why? The gift of information in a crisis like an earthquake, when gifts are never enough, is that you have a range of time for baseline that set-off the dynamics of misery. Work from time zero. Where were family members and where were you?
The casual observer of calamity can do this too, but our responsibility is different. Since it’s not our mother in the trap of concrete and steel we must turn our attention to the flow of energy, materials, and capital to sustain rescue efforts and support rebuilding safer communities.
If you think Venezuelan communities are not your responsibility I don’t know what to say to convince you otherwise. Clearly you have reasoned a wall between yourself and them, and foolishly believe your indifference is responsibility. The problem is that you do not understand earthquakes like pandemics are swarm events, especially in the age of climate catastrophe.
The Earth before our generation and the few to follow is on par to produce an endless stream of disasters all over its surface where humans live. We all are humans and we all are susceptible. If we each ignore everything else around us then we will accumulate a false sense of security that no longer exists.
Earthquakes are bells that never stop ringing, internalize that too. You might have no ties to Venezuela today, but what you must understand is everyone in Venezuela has the same right to survive as we do and they will live and they outnumber you. Do we want Venezuelans to thrive in Venezuela?
Wait don’t even worry about that perspective, think about like this, people and stories stick together and not even first principles are linear over time. The world is only going to get more chaotic, and that means eventually even the monks of self interest will find themselves or their genes stuck in an earthquake storm sooner or later. Do you want guardrails in place when that day comes? What happens when it’s your mother next time, if you don’t think better now and act for the good of all?